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Citrus Is Ideal For Home Gardens

Photo by MONICA BRANDIES

Master gardener Jimmy Lee shares his vast knowledge and persistent enthusiasm for citrus and all fruit plants at the January free plant clinic at the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library.

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MONICA BRANDIES

Tampa Tribune Columnist

Published: January 21, 2009

THONOTOSASSA - Master gardeners Jimmy and Sally Lee recently gave a presentation at the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library to an audience full of questions and fears.

They have traveled the world and seen citrus growing in many situations. Here are some of the things we learned.

"Citrus started in China and India over 1,000 years ago. In China, they grow pommelos in one area, oranges in another, and tangerines in another. They actually have fewer varieties today than we have because we want a little of everything," Jimmy Lee said.

Citrus is the ideal fruit for home gardens because the trees are small and quite decorative, and care is not difficult. The Citrus Arboretum in Lake Alfred grows 300 varieties of citrus.

If you don't know what kind of citrus trees you want, visit the Citrus Celebration at the Florida State Fairgrounds Feb. 8, the first Sunday of the Florida State Fair. You can taste many different varieties. Different people favor different kinds.

If you plant early, mid-season and late varieties, you can have citrus fruits to eat from your own trees for nine to 10 months of the year. And you can grow some delicious varieties - like my own favorites, poncan and page, which you will never find even at a produce stand.

There are so many citrus disease problems at the moment that it is illegal to graft, except in certain cases and under certain circumstances. If you go to the Citrus Arboretum, you will be disinfected before you enter. We have little or no other control over most of these diseases.

With citrus greening, the most fearful ailment for these trees, it may help to plant guavas - their scent may draw the insects that spread the disease away from your citrus trees.

Citrus greening shows itself with yellow leaves, green only on the bottom of the fruit and a bitter taste with fruit on a tree that previously produced sweet fruit. I was glad to learn that my 12 citrus trees have not shown signs of this - so far, thank God.

They have dropped more fruit this year than ever before, and I was very worried. But Jimmy Lee thinks that could be from the dry weather.

I already lost my prized navel to deadly decline, but Paul Harris of Harris Citrus Nursery in Lithia assured me that was because it was grafted on a sour orange rootstock, and they don't use that rootstock any more for navels.

Harris also said that nothing will destroy the Florida citrus industry. Jimmy Lee concurred, and his best advice is that if a tree dies, cut it down and plant a new one.

If a tree is obviously in decline, prune it back and make it last a bit longer. But it is wise to plant a new one before it dies so the young one, on a stronger rootstock, will be ready to take over.

Lee says there is no reason to be reluctant to plant citrus tree, as long as you get a grafted plant from a nursery that does the grafting in a pressurized greenhouse and follows the rules.

You will be able to buy from the Rare Fruit Council at the Spring Plant Festival at the University of South Florida April 11 and 12 - or from places like Harris Citrus Nursery anytime. Newer plants will be more resistant to diseases.

Sally Lee told some of us after the program, "There is no need to spray citrus with any poisons at this point, because it won't make any difference. And don't use systemic pesticides on citrus or any other edible, because it will get into the fruit."

If you buy a young citrus tree in a 3-gallon pot, it probably will produce some fruit the next year. If you buy a smaller plant, it may take two or three years, and it is best to take off all but a sample of fruit from a young tree so it can send its energy into growing a larger tree.

Young trees also need to be protected from frost. Be careful to mound up soil or leaves, or wrap something around the graft point, which is near the soil surface.

Do not plant with this joint below the soil surface. If the tree freezes back but the graft point is saved, it will come back as the desired variety. After the 1989 freeze, one of my grapefruit trees, not well enough protected, produced sour oranges.

Today's Pick

Kumquats are the smallest of the citrus fruits and come in two main varieties, sweet and not-so-sweet. Some people prefer the more sour Nagami, Fortunella margarita, with fruits that are more elongated. I have a Meiwa, the sweet, round one, in my front yard and have had more kumquats to eat than we can use every winter. I try to water my citrus trees in dry times and then deeply every two weeks. They like to dry out between waterings. They are very hardy and able to withstand temperatures below 20 degrees with little damage.

My family eats our kumquats right out of hand, skin and all. They are tart and sweet, and most people like them. My tree is between the door and the mailbox, and one friend teased me about going to the mailbox so often - always eating on the way.

I feed it three times a year and prune out any dead wood. Unlike my other citrus trees, this one blooms occasionally year-round, but mine only sets and ripens fruit during the winter months. We pick them from November through March. The fruit is excellent for jams and jellies. Pickled and spiced kumquats make great edible garnishes.

These trees also can be grown in large containers, in which they will stay smaller. There are several kumquat hybrids - including the limequat, the orangequat and the calamondin orange.

Now's The Time To ...

•Girdle the trunk, or at least a branch, of any tree that is old enough but has not borne fruit, or has not borne enough fruit. I have two of those, red navels both. Girdling is done buy cutting through the bark in a circle all around the branch and down to but not into the wood. This slows the food uptake from the roots and threatens the tree enough to send it into the reproductive state. Girdling should always be done when the sap is running, which it is now, and usually about a month before the tree should start blooming.

•Don't put those Christmas lights away. Put them on one or more of your least hardy trees. Mine go onto my mango, which is starting to bloom like it never did before. Then just turn them on when the nights are cold, and it will warm up the air around the tree to some extent, hopefully enough to save the bloom.

Monica Brandies can be reached at monicabrandies@yahoo.com.

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